


Heart Of Darkness

by Arikitteh



Category: Chikara (Professional Wrestling), Professional Wrestling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 12:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5966674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arikitteh/pseuds/Arikitteh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can you ever truly escape your past? What if it comes calling in the middle of the night, disturbing your dreams?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart Of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics and song title from 'Heart Of Darkness' by Arch Enemy.

_You can't kill me. I am living inside you._   
_I am a part of your existence_   
_Twisted thoughts in a twisted mind_   
_Provoking you_

Gibberish, that's the only word Swamp Monster had to describe what he heard from Icarus. Icarus was sleeping, curled up in one of the two beds in the hotel room. Chuck Taylor was sprawled out on the other, and Swampy had been sleeping on the couch. Cuddling his teddy bear close and curled up comfortably under a couple of blankets. Until he'd heard Icarus muttering some sort of gibberish. Swamp Monster couldn't understand it, but something about it made Swampy feel uneasy and afraid.

Swampy got up off the couch, teddy bear held tightly in one arm, dragging one of the blankets in the other. Much like Linus from Peanuts with his security blanket. Swamp Monster sat on one side of the bed where Chuckie was sprawled, then reached out with the hand still clutching the blanket to try and shake Chuckie awake. Chuckie started groaning, and reached out to swat Swampy's hand away. “Damnit, Swampy, I'm trying to sleep.” Chuck mumbled.

Swamp Monster started to make worried and afraid noises, which caused Chuck to groan loudly before he rolled over onto his back. Slowly sitting up, Chuckie started to rub the sleep from his eyes as he looked at Swampy. Taking a few moments to try to make sense of what Swampy was trying to tell him, before he turned to look over at where Icarus still slept. Hearing Icarus quietly mumbling in the same sort of gibberish that Hallowicked and Frightmare normally used when speaking was enough to fully wake Chuckie up. “Huh, that's something new.”

Chuck swung his bare feet around, pushing the sheets off himself before standing up. Taking the two steps over to where Icarus slept, Chuckie started to reach out for his friend's shoulder, before Swamp Monster grabbed him from behind and started pulling him back. “What the fuck, Swampy?” Swamp Monster responded with worried sounds, starting to pet Chuckie's hair. Chuckie grunted and gently pushed Swampy's moss covered hands away from him. “I'm going to wake Ic up. He's probably just having a bad dream or some bullshit.”

Swamp Monster still made worried sounds, sitting on Chuckie's bed as Chuck reached out to grab Icarus' shoulder and start shaking Ic awake. Icarus woke with a start, suddenly bolting up to a seated position, blue eyes wide, still speaking the strange gibberish. Icarus looked around the room wildly, not registering anything he saw, until Chuck grabbed both of his arms and started to speak to him.

“Ic.... **Icarus**.... _Snap outta it!_ ” Chuck called out nervously, finally relaxing when Icarus stopped speaking the strange gibberish and started to calm down.

“Chuckie? What the hell?”

“I should be asking you that! You scared Swampy bad enough that he woke me up. You were speaking some weird shit, sounding like Hallowicked. What's going on?” Chuckie sat on the side of Icarus' bed, motioning for Swamp Monster to go get a couple cups of ice water as he reached out to turn on one of the bedside lamps.

Icarus rubbed his face, accepting a cup of ice water from Swampy he sipped half of it down before setting the cup on the nightstand. “I wish I knew. I must have been dreaming, but it felt so real. I heard this strange voice calling to me. I think it was someone, or something, calling itself Nazmaldun. It called to me. Called me by a name I haven't used since.... Since forever.” Icarus shuddered, then reached for the cup and drained it in one long gulp.

“Think I could use something stronger than water.” Icarus said, glancing down into his empty glass. Chuck grinned and reached for the bottle of bourbon he kept in his overnight bag. Filling the cup Icarus held out before killing the ice water in his own glass and replacing it with bourbon.

“Ok, some weird dude talking to you in your sleep. Think it might be talking to Hallowicked and Frightmare too? Since you used to be Hallowicked's tag partner back before you lost your mask, and you understand that gibberish he and Frightmare speak.” Chuckie asked as Icarus took a gulp of the bourbon.

“Could be, but I thought our connection was broken. Why would it show up again now? After all these years?” Icarus scratched his head, thinking. Chuck shrugged and took a gulp of his own bourbon. “I'm thinkin' we should go talk to Mantis about this in the morning. If anyone could help figure it out, he could.”

Icarus mulled that over for a moment as he finished off the bourbon in his cup. “I guess.” Icarus didn't sound that enthusiastic about it. Chuck gave his old tag partner a quizzical look. Icarus looked at Chuckie and explained, “I'm not sure if giving Mantis anything he could use to get 'Wicked and Fright back under his control is a good thing.”

Understanding crossed Chuckie's expression, “Point, but what if this Nazzy-whatever turns out to be worse than Mantis? At least with Mantis we know he takes care of those with him, protects them in his own twisted way. Can we say the same about this new guy?”

Icarus looked down at the bottom of his cup, mulling it over. “I-I'm not sure. Nazmaldun felt.... _evil_ in my mind. It scared the shit outta me. But I didn't feel any malice towards Hallowicked or Frightmare from it either. It felt like Nazmaldun wants to empower them so they can be free of Mantis once and for all. I want to do what's right, but I don't want to leave my friends in anyone's hands. I want them to be able to be free for a change.”

“Freedom is great, but at what cost? I don't think Nazzy is just gonna let 'em walk free without asking for something in return. It sounds like we gotta make a choice, either the devil we know or this unknown new guy. I know we're outta our league in dealing with this weird supernatural crap. We need to talk to somebody that knows more about it than we do. Someone we trust. That's a real short list. So I'll let you pick who we go talk to come morning, but we are gonna go talk to someone about this. I can't take Swampy waking me up every damn night because you're talking gibberish and scaring the shit outta him.” Chuckie said, before refilling both his own and Icarus' cups with bourbon. Chuck even poured a bit into a cup for Swamp Monster before putting the bottle back into his overnight bag.

Swampy drank the bourbon happily before he let Chuckie lead him back to the couch. Chuck got Swampy to lie down, and tucked his Swamp Monster back in comfortably before he made his way back to his bed. Where he downed his second glass of bourbon quickly, shut off the lamp, and sprawled back out in bed to get back to sleep. Icarus sat up in bed, sipping his bourbon slowly in the dark, mulling over what Chuck had said.

_I come to you in the night_   
_I am your dark sub-conscience_   
_I keep you awake, knowing_   
_I am the heart of darkness_


End file.
